He Didn't Have To Be: Big Brother
by KattyBorz
Summary: It's a little further in time and little Tony becomes a big brother and when he discovers how his younger siblings feels about him, how will he react? This is AU and the characters may be OOC. Jenny/Gibbs pairing Tony/Tim/Abby/Kate siblings Gibbs/Tony/Tim/Kate/Abby father/kids Sequel to HDHTB: Mr Perfect


It wasn't too long ago that Anthony Shepard became Anthony Shepard Gibbs. It was a Father's Day gift for Leroy Jethro Gibbs from his new bride and son a few months after the wedding. Tony was so excited to become Jethro's son legally and be completely enveloped in his new family. Jethro couldn't believe that the amazing six year old was now his, it was like some amazing dream from which he was afraid he would wake. He loved the little boy like he was his own flesh and blood and nothing would ever change that.

When Tony was seven, he was knighted with the responsibility of big brother. Jenny and Jethro had a set of fraternal twins, Abby and Kate. The little babies scared Tony at first. He wasn't sure what to do, how to do it or if he even should do anything. It was so confusing for the poor first grader that he voiced his concerns with his daddy.

"Daddy…what if I brake one of them?" Tony's wide and worried eyes looked up at his father and he was so quiet and shy.

"You won't break them, son." Jethro reassured as he fed Abby her lunch.

"But they're so _little_!" Tony exclaimed quietly. If he was told one thing when his new sisters came home, it was that he'd have to use his inside voice so that the babies could sleep. The lesson was driven home when he exclaimed excitedly over a movie and both his sisters began to cry and scream. He was so scared and felt so guilty for hurting his little sisters that he was practically whispering these days.

"You'll learn." Jethro looked at his son with a smile. "You'll get the hang of it. If you ever feel uncertain or uncomfortable just come to me or Mommy and we'll help you."

"Can I hold her?" Tony whispered, completely in awe of the little life before him.

"She's almost done." Jethro removed the bottle from the baby's mouth and lifted her to his shoulder, patting her back gently.

"Why do you do that?" Tony always seen his parents patting the babies back every time they finished a bottle, but he didn't understand why.

"After a baby eats gas gathers in their tummy, this helps them release the gas so they won't be uncomfortable and upset later." Jethro explained continuing to burp Abby. A few moments later a tiny burp met their ears. "There ya go, sweet girl." Jethro stood and placed the yawning baby in the playpin crib next to the couch. "Hey, buddy, could you do me a favor?" Jethro whispered turning to see his son nod. "Could you get Kate for me while I get Abby settled down?"

Tony nodded and carefully made his way across the room to pick up his six month old sister playing quietly on the living room floor. He knelt down in front of her and extended his arms.

"Hey, Katie, are you hungry?" Kate looked up at her brother with a blank expression before throwing one of her blocks at his head. Tony ducked in time to miss it. "Kate! That's not nice!" Kate just giggled and waved her arms in amusement. Tony rolled his eyes before reaching out and pulling his sister into his arms. She wiggled and squirmed while Tony tried to get her securely against his little chest. "Quit squirming, Kate! You're making this more difficult!" As if understanding the command, Kate calmed down enough for Tony to carry her to the couch where their father sat, watching them with a smile. "Here you go, Daddy!" Tony sighed as he handed his sister over. "One squirmy baby!"

Jethro laughed at his son as he drew Kate onto his lap. "Hop up, kiddo, you can hold her as she eats."

Tony sat down next to Jethro and sat very still, just like they always told him. Jethro gently laid Kate across the seven-year-old's lap before preparing another bottle. Tony looked down at the chubby face of his sister for a moment and gently played with her fingers. Kate smiled up at her brother and smacked him in the chest with a tiny fist.

"OW!" Tony complained rubbing his chest. "That hurt, Katie! Not nice!"

Jethro looked at his son with a sympathetic gaze. "Sorry, buddy. She doesn't know not to hit and throw things yet. But she'll learn, just give her some time." Tony nodded with a little pout on his lips. Jethro expertly nudged the nipple into the baby's mouth and Kate began sucking down the formula with great gusto.

"Easy, baby!" Tony warned watching his sister devour the bottle. "You don't want to get too gassy! You could explode the house!"

Jethro chuckled and ruffled his son's hair. "She'll be okay, buddy. As long as she doesn't choke, she'll be fine."

Tony nodded, still staring down in awe and amazement that something so tiny could be so powerful. He remembered when he first saw his new sisters, he didn't feel shunted or that he was going to be forgotten about like most kids. He felt a sense of responsibility and protectiveness over his new family members. They were too small to take care of themselves and would need their big bad brother to keep them out of harm's way. Of course, his daddy would help him in his new job (after all, he's only seven) but he took his job very seriously.

"Daddy…" Tony began quietly, still deep in thought. When he didn't continue, Jethro prompted him.

"Yeah, Tony-boy?"

"I'm really glad I have sisters." Tony looked up into his father's blue eyes and said seriously, "I will do whatever I can to protect them. At least, until their big enough to do it themselves. I'm not gonna be the knight for the rest of my life!"

Jethro smiled and kissed his son's hair. "I know, buddy. You're already such an amazing big brother."

* * *

A few years later, another little baby joined the family of five. Timmy Gibbs was the youngest and the last of the Gibbs children and that was perfectly fine for Jethro and Jenny. They already had four amazing children, they couldn't have asked for more. Life had been picture perfect. All the siblings got along well. Tony, who was now fourteen, took his role as protector very seriously. If he heard about any bullying of his younger siblings, he would make sure it never happened again. Abby and Kate, although twins, were now seven and ready for big kid things. But whenever they tried to do something that Tony deemed dangerous he would intervene and steer them in another direction. The two girls quickly grew tired of his act and decided that they were too old for being treated like a baby. Timmy was only five and didn't understand much of what was going on. He did know that his big brother was his role model. He wanted to be like Tony when he got older and he did everything the older boy did, or at least tried to. Timmy, just like the twin girls, was under the careful protection of the high school freshman and was limited to only doing activities age appropriate. Timmy was fine with that. He'd seen his brother bring home girls and they would hold hands and hug and kiss. Tim found if very gross. Didn't Tony know that girls had cooties? But he would stand up for his brother any chance he got even though he had no idea what was going on. Now was one of those moments.

"Timmy, you do know that Tony isn't a _real_ Gibbs, right?" Abby asked her baby brother as they played on the living room floor.

"Yes, he is Abby." Timmy answered her like she was the most insane person in the world. To him she kind of was. Of course Tony was a real Gibbs! He was their older brother after all!

"No, Timmy, he's not." Kate chipped in as she sat down next to her sister. "He was adopted a long time ago."

"What's adopted?" Timmy asked, tilting his head to the side slightly.

"Adopted means that a family takes in a kid because no one else wants them." Abby explained with an eye roll. Sometimes her baby brother was so dumb. "Tony was adopted because his real daddy didn't want him."

"That's not true." Timmy protested thoughtfully. "Daddy always wants Tony. He takes him fishing and to games and car shows! Why would he do that if he didn't want Tony?"

"Daddy isn't Tony's real daddy, Timmy!" Abby exclaimed exasperated. "Daddy adopted Tony after he married Mommy because Tony's real daddy didn't want him!"

"You're lying! Daddy does want Tony!" Tim cried. Little tears of confusing and anger were rolling down his flushed cheeks. Girls never understood boys and always came up with lies. That's what Tony told him after his girlfriend broke up with him a few months ago.

"Timmy! We're not lying!" Kate stated firmly. "Mommy is Tony's real mommy but Daddy isn't Tony's real daddy."

"STOP TELLING LIES!" Timmy screamed as he covered his ears.

"What's going on in here?" A voice drifted into the room and a tall, lanky, teenager leaned against the door jamb leading into the kitchen. Timmy quickly ran to Tony and hugged his brother's legs. "Geez, Mom and Dad are gone for barely an hour and you're already freaking out?" Tony knew that Timmy was afraid for their parents. He overheard stories between them and Uncle Mike about their jobs and Timmy has always been scared to lose them. Tony picked up his brother and rubbed his back. "It'll be alright, kiddo. They only left to pick up Grandpa from the airport! They'll be back in about an hour and a half."

Timmy shook his head and whispered quietly. "They were telling lies about you."

Tony looked at his little sisters. They sat there glaring at him, as if he just called all of them retarded. "What did you tell him?"

"It's none of your business." Kate snapped as she crossed her arms.

"Dad left me in charge so that makes it my business." Tony countered with the look he picked up from his father. It was the "try again, but this time don't lie to me" look. "Now, what did you tell him?"

"What we told him is for family ears only." Abby sneered. Tony never thought it would be possibly for the sweet girl to contort her face in such a way, but now that he's seen it he was going to make sure not to see it again. "It doesn't concern _you_."

"What are you talking about?" Tony put Timmy down and made his way closer to his sisters. What did he do to deserve such hateful looks? "I'm your older brother, I think that makes me family."

"You're only our _half_-brother." Kate stated. "You're not a whole-brother. That means that you're only half-family and not full family. You're don't belong here."

Tony stood there, dumbfounded about what he just heard. How the _hell_ did they find out about that? His parents made it a point raise the kids together like they were full blooded. This issue had never risen before so why now? He thought he'd been a good brother, full or not, to his siblings; he made sure that they were happy, he watched over them when the parents were away on duty, he took them to movies and the park and he would take them to school once he got his license and a car. What did he do to elicit such hate, contempt and anger?

"Alright," Tony muttered looked down at his socked feet. "I need to go do some homework, so unless it's important don't interrupt me. I should be done in about two hours, if Mom and Dad aren't back by then, I'll start dinner. Anything in particular you guys want?" No one responded. Kate and Abby just glared at him and Timmy was too upset to consider his cravings. "Okay, I'll come up with something. Watch over Timmy, okay?" Tony ordered his sisters with a pointed look. "He is not to be left alone tonight and you do not discuss this topic further with him. Clear?"

"You're not a Gibbs!" Kate exploded, angry that this boy was ordering her around. "You can't tell us what to do!"

"I don't care, Kate!" Tony said loudly. He had never yelled at his siblings and he wasn't going to start now. "Dad left me in charge. Family or _not_, that means I'm the boss while he's gone. So until he gets back you do what I say. Now, play quietly and keep an eye on Timmy. I'll be in my room if you need me."

Tony turned and launched himself up the stairs and into his room. He couldn't let his siblings see him so weak. They had no clue about how much their words and hurt him, how deep each cut went. He didn't think that they'd ever find out that Jethro wasn't his biological father, but that didn't matter. Jethro was a father to him in other ways. Jethro taught him how to play sports, how to fix cars, how to fish, whittle wood and hunt. He never knew his biological father. His mom made it a point to not bring him up and Tony wasn't curious enough to ask. To him, Jethro was his biological father and always would be. For as far back as he could remember, Jethro had always been in his life, a constant figure there to catch him if he fell and a comforting embrace if he hurt.

Tony sat down dejectedly at his disk and stared at his Algebra book, trying to muster the energy to concentrate and finish it. He was almost done when the yelling downstairs captured his attention. Now he kind of wished that he had left it alone. That way he would never know how his sisters thought of him and he wouldn't have to worry about his dad bringing down the lightening because his grade in math was slipping.

With a heavy sigh, Tony picked up his pencil and returned to calculating polynomials and factoring binomials.

* * *

Two hours later, Jethro and Jenny returned with Jackson Gibbs in tow. The elder Gibbs was excited to see his grandchildren again and couldn't wait to give them their gifts from Stillwater, Pennsylvania. When the trio stepped into the house, the first thing they noticed was the silence. When you have a four kids in one house and you leave them alone for a few hours, the last thing you would expect to come home to was silence. They heard pots and pans banging around and a faucet running. The three adults walked into the kitchen to find the three youngest children sitting at the table eating what looked like lasagna and the oldest was washing the bowl he used for the sauce and the pan from the noodles. Jethro and Jenny looked at each other in surprise. The only time the fourteen year old cooked lasagna was when he wanted to keep his hands busy, normally when he was upset over something. Jackson frowned when he saw the set shoulders of the older boy and the rough way he was scrubbing the bowl.

"Hey, honey." Jenny greeted as she moved to throw an arm around her first born and dropping a kiss on his cheek. "I'm sorry we are back so late, the traffic was horrible. Thank you for making dinner and feeding your siblings."

"It was no problem, Mom." Tony smiled at Jenny and turned back to his work. "I was watching the news earlier and knew you'd be gone awhile. There's more lasagna in the oven, it should still be warm."

"Thank you, sweetie." Jenny kissed her son one last time before moving to take out the leftover food.

After the youngest Gibbs children finished dinner, Tony picked up their glasses and told them to go play in the living room. When they protested, Tony told them that Grandpa will play with them once he finished eating. Jethro watched his oldest son with pride as he began washing his siblings' dishes. He still noticed how stiff and robotic movements in his son's actions and the deep frown on his face. Something had happened when they were gone and he was determined to find out.

Once the adults were fed and full, Tony washed their dishes too and sent them to play with the children. Jackson thanked his oldest grandson for the meal before greeting the other three with great joy and happiness. Jenny had followed and smiled as she watched her children soak up the attention from their favorite (and only) grandfather. Jethro stayed in the kitchen to help his son finish the dishes. They worked in silence for a while, Tony washing with Jethro rinsing and drying; once all the dishes were clean, the duo put the dishes away. Tony offered his dad some coffee, which he had made ten minutes before his parents walked in through the door, and Jethro accepted the offer with surprise. Lasagna and coffee? Something was deeply troubling the boy and Jethro was desperate to find out what.

"Are you alright, son?" Jethro asked around his coffee cup. Tony had poured himself a cup, added insane amounts of milk and sugar, and took a sip. Since when did Tony drink coffee? "You know you really shouldn't be drinking that stuff at your age. It'll stunt your growth and you will be too short to become a professional basketball player." Jethro smirked as he saw the corner of Tony's mouth twitch with amusement before it was replaced with another frown. "Come on, Tony-boy, talk to me."

"Did you tell Kate and Abby that you adopted me?" Tony asked quietly.

"No, why? Did you want us to?" Jethro asked full of worry. He had thought that his son didn't want that bit of information to be made known.

"No, but it's too late now." Tony took a big gulp of coffee, wincing slightly at the bitter taste, and looked out the kitchen window. "They know already."

"What?" Jethro put down his cup and gently pried Tony's out of his hands. "How do you know?"

"They were bothering Timmy, today." Tony decided he was going to start at the beginning and work his way up to the most hurtful part of the day. "They were downstairs playing and I was in my room finishing my math homework when I heard the yells. I went down to see what was going on and Timmy had his hands over his ears and his face was red and tears were falling from his eyes. When I asked him what was wrong he just told me that they were telling him lies. I asked the girls what they told him and they said that it was for family ears only. Naturally, I told them I was family and I had a right to know what they were saying when they told me that I was only their half-brother and that didn't make me family." Tony turned and looked at his dad with tears in his eyes. When he spoke again, his voice was shaking. "Dad, it hit me hard. I had no idea it was coming until I was already bleeding. I told them I was going to be in my room and that they needed to keep an eye on Timmy when Kate said that I wasn't a Gibbs and that I couldn't boss her around."

"Oh, son…" Jethro pulled his boy into his arms and rubbed his back comfortingly. "They don't know that they are talking about. You are a Gibbs. You always have been a Gibbs. You always will be a Gibbs. No matter what."

"I don't understand, Dad. What did I do to make them hate me so much?" Tony muttered into his father's shoulder.

"You didn't do anything." Jethro ran a hand through his son's hair and planted a kiss to the top of his head. Despite his earlier teasing comment, Tony was growing like a weed. Fourteen years old and he was almost as tall as Jethro. "You're a great brother to them, Tony. They just don't realize it yet."

After a few moments of drawing strength from his father, Tony pulled back with a small smile.

"I'm going to go to bed. I'm exhausted."

"Alright, sleep well, kiddo."

Tony walked into the living room and kissed his mother and bid his grandfather goodnight after promising a full day of fun tomorrow. Tony patted Timmy's head and was rewarded with a warm smile. At least Timmy didn't hate him. He turned to hug his sisters when he was met with glares again. He just nodded at them before heading upstairs to bed.

* * *

When Jethro entered the living room, he smiled when he saw his kids playing and the grownups watching fondly. He made his way to the couch and sat next to his wife. He threw an arm around her shoulders, drew her into him and gave her a light kiss to the cheek. Jenny smiled at him and let her head fall to his shoulder. They watched the youngest kids play for a while, a half hour had passed since Tony went to bed when the subject came up again.

"See?" Kate said to Timmy quietly, aware that there were grownups watching them. "I told you Tony's adopted! He doesn't belong in our family!"

"Katie, can you please stop?" Timmy pleaded quietly. He had a rough and stressful afternoon and he didn't want to go into this again.

"Not until you realize that Tony isn't a real Gibbs!" Abby exclaimed a little too loudly. Kate glared at her sister before looking to see if their parents heard her. Based off of the stricken looks alone, Kate guessed that they heard them loud and clear. Kate glared at her sister again. "Sorry, Kate." Abby muttered.

"Caitlyn, could you repeat what you said for me?" Jenny asked calmly.

"I said that Tony is adopted." Kate offered quietly.

"No, I meant after that."

"That Tony isn't a real Gibbs."

"And?"

"And he doesn't belong here." Kate finished with a sigh. "But it's true! Daddy isn't Tony's daddy!"

"Young lady, that is not true!" Jethro said firmly. He watched as the little girl's shoulders fell. "I am as much as Tony's daddy as I am yours."

"Uh-uh!" Abby protested. "Tony is adopted and we're not!"

"Abigail!" Jenny chastised. "That is not nice!"

"It doesn't matter if he was adopted or not." Jethro leaned forward and beckoned the girls to him. Once they were within arm's reach, he smacked both of their bottoms once, quick and hard. They both protested and whined until they caught sight of his eyes. "Tony is my son. Timmy is my son. You two are my daughters. We are all family and we do not say mean things about family. You two really hurt your brother's feelings by saying he isn't a Gibbs."

"He told on us?!" Kate exclaimed, completely put off that Tony would rat them out.

"No, he came to me because he was upset. He wanted to know what he did to make his two favorite sisters hate him so much that they so easily casted him out of their family." Jethro answered, watching as the guilt and shame fell onto their little shoulders. "You really hurt him and you need to apologize, and meant it." The two girls nodded. "But he's not the only one you need to apologize to. There's another brother you have that you hurt as well. How do you think poor Timmy reacted when his two sisters began telling him that his hero, his role model, wasn't his actual brother? The kid is confused and hurt too. You both have big apologies to make."

"Yes sir." The two responded looking down at the ground.

"Get to it."

The girls turned around and walked back to where Timmy sat, quietly making a small tower out of wooden blocks. He looked up at his sisters, worry sank in when he saw the sadness rolling off of them.

"Timmy, we're sorry for telling you lies about Tony." Kate began quietly.

"We shouldn't have made you so hurt and confused like that." Abby continued.

"Tony is our brother and we shouldn't have tried to tell you different." Kate finished.

Timmy nodded and hug each of his sisters. "It's okay. I forgive you. I'm just glad you remembered that Tony is our brother!" The grownups chuckled and smiled at the most loving little boy they have ever known.

The girls hugged their brother and then retreated up the stairs. Hopefully Tony would be awake and they could apologize so they wouldn't feel so guilty through the night. Once they reached his door, Kate knocked softly, waiting for an answer. After a moment, they heard a soft "come in" from the other side and entered quietly. Tony was laying on his bed and reading Sports Illustrated. He looked up at his sisters and put the magazine down.

"What do you need?" Tony asked softly. No matter what, he would always love his sisters. There wasn't anything they could say or do to make him think otherwise.

"We came to apologize, Tony." Kate whispered. "What we said was wrong and mean and we didn't mean any of it. You're the best big brother ever and we're sorry that we said you weren't."

"We love you, Tony. And we're really sorry that we hurt your feelings." Abby shifted from foot to foot nervously.

"I just want to know one thing…" Tony paused, thought for a moment, "no make that two things."

"Anything!" Kate encouraged. "Ask us anything and we'll me honest! Promise."

"First, where did you get the idea that I'm adopted?"

"I overheard Mommy talking on the phone with someone." Abby answered, ashamed that she eavesdropped. "She was telling someone that you're other daddy wasn't around anymore."

"She told me right after." Kate finished quickly. Not wanting to get into too much detail about how they trash talked him the rest of the night.

"Alright," Tony accepted with a nod. "Next question." Tony took a deep breath and looked directly at his sisters. "Why were you both so angry?"

The girls looked at each other, unsure how to answer that question. To be honest, they didn't even know themselves. All they knew was that suddenly their brother was different from them and they didn't want him to be different.

"I guess we were afraid that you would suddenly be different." Abby offered. "All of a sudden you weren't just our big brother, you were a stranger to us."

"I'm not any different just because Dad wasn't my biological father." Tony reasoned softly. His sisters were a little young to understand exactly the relationship he had with their father. "I was six when Dad adopted me, five when he married Mom and seven when you two came along. Dad was always a father to me, whether we share the same blood or not. Just like you two will always be my sisters and Timmy will always be my brother and I love all three of you very much."

The two girls launched themselves at Tony, burying their faces into his nightshirt begging him for forgiveness. He wrapped his arms around the two small girls and reassured them that he was never mad at them to begin with. When they pulled away, Tony shooed them so he could get some rest. As soon as his bedroom door closed, Tony laid back on his bed and stared at the ceiling, smiling widely.

* * *

**Just so you know, this is based on a real event. I did almost the same thing to my own brother and I wanted to apply the situation to the He Didn't Have To Be universe. Hope you enjoyed it. Review please!**


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